Category: News

Leominster Quilters had agreed to take part in the Threads Through Creation exhibition at Leominster Priory.

The Saturday of the Big Stitch up Day was rather cold and dull but inside the Priory brightness and cheerfulness was all around with beautiful coloured quilts and wall hangings everywhere.

Several members had embraced the challenge of making an A4 quilt entitled “Creation” and these were on view thanks to the hard work of Debbie Cottam who had set up the display.

During the day several members spent one or two hours at the Priory sewing EPP (English Paper Piecing) hexagons which could eventually be turned into a lap quilt to be donated to Leominster Dementia Group.

Members’ efforts attracted considerable interest by passing visitors who stopped to chat and we were able to explain the process of making and joining the hexagons and invite them to ‘have a go’. Some visitors eagerly accepted the offer whilst others needed a little gentle persuasion and encouragement but they agreed it was very relaxing and something that could be done whilst watching television. It was rewarding to hear some say they would try and sew some at home.

All in all it was a very successful and rewarding day and we may even have made a few converts to EPP.

We are thrilled to say that many of our members make little baby quilts for the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) at Hereford Hospital. This is a project that started in 2017, with almost 3000 quilts being donated to the hospital to date, and new ones being made all the time.
The quilts are just 20″ x 16″ / 508mm x 406mm, made of quilting cotton fabric with pure cotton batting.
One member said she loves making these little quilts; choosing beautiful materials, often to complement ones already in the never ending stash, and then putting them together as a little splash of joy. They are also a super way of practising different techniques, maybe setting off on free motion quilting (fmq) for the first time, adding bindings and perfecting all those little magic tricks that become so much more achievable in a nice, manageable sized piece.
And then just imagine where they are going and how they will be used. One member gathers them all up and takes them to the hospital, and then Mums and Dads in the special care baby unit can choose from the quilts – they get to pick exactly what they like, and that little quilt stays with their baby whilst in hospital and goes home with them too. What a lovely story and what a fun project to be a part of! Hopefully there will be many more photos here soon to inspire you.

16^th August 2023 – a ‘sit and sew’. 

3^rd August 2023 – a coach trip to the Festival of Quilts at the NEC.

2^nd August 2023 – no meeting

19^th July 2023 – a ‘sit and sew’.

5^th July 2023 – a ‘sit and sew’. 

21^st June 2023 – we had an interesting talk from Rebecca Harrison about her life in the costume and TV world.

17^th May 2023 – Sit & sew and Block printing demonstration by Mary Cook. She had good display of examples and brought blocks, paints and some spare fabric so those members who wanted to could have a go while others just brought their own sewing along to do..

3^rd May 2023 – Sit & sew.

19^th April 2023 – Sit & sew

5^th April 2023 – AGM and show & tell

1^st April – 12 participants had an enjoyable day at the Monkey Buttons FPP workshop with Amanda Hall to make a “sea urchin” block – fun and very useful for keeping the brain active.

15^th March – We had a talk from Amanda Hall of Monkey Buttons telling us all about the patterns she designs. She now has a range of 150 which is still growing. A few of her made up designs are shown below.

16^th February – A binding evening led by Maureen Bilbao. She showed us various ways of binding providing a large selection of samples to show us.

1^st February – This week’s ‘Sit and Sew’ was an afternoon meeting where members spent the afternoon quilting their ‘around the world’ quilts or any other quilt ready project that they had.

18^th January –  A ‘Sit and Sew’ evening focused upon basting. Members brought along ready to baste projects along with provisions for their normal method of basting. We explored different methods of basting, learning from each other. 

7^th January 2023 – Sit and sew Saturday when Chris Body led a workshop to “Quilt a top in a day”. Most members took part while some did their own thing.